Proactive Response to Recent Data Breach Announced

The Department of Defense announced today that the TRICARE® Management Activity (TMA) has directed Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) to provide one year of credit monitoring and restoration services to patients who express concern about their credit as a result of a data breach that occurred in Texas and was reported to TMA on Sept. 14, 2011. Approximately 4.9 million patients treated at military hospitals and clinics during the last 20 years may have been affected by the breach. Potentially affected patients are being notified by letter.

"These additional proactive security measures exceed the industry standard to protect against the risk of identity theft," said Brig. Gen. W. Bryan Gamble, TMA deputy director. "We take very seriously our responsibility to offer patients peace of mind that their credit and quality of life will be unaffected by this breach."

Immediately upon learning of the recent SAIC data breach TRICARE posted information about the data breach on their website at https://www.tricare.mil to inform their beneficiaries. There is no evidence any of the data has actually been accessed by a third party, and analysis shows the chance any data was actually compromised is low.Proactive measures are being taken to ensure potentially affected patients are kept informed and protected.

The data involved in the breach may contain names, Social Security numbers, addresses and phone numbers, and some personal health data such as clinical notes, laboratory tests and prescriptions. There is no financial data, such as credit card or bank account information, on the information that was taken.